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Head-To-Head: Rafa v Pardew
Written by Newcastle Utd
Rafa Benitez has a statistical advantage over his opposite number this weekend, Alan Pardew
By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter
When Rafa Benitez sends his Newcastle United team out to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, he'll take a statistical advantage over his opposite number Alan Pardew into the contest with him.
This weekend's game at St. James' Park (3pm kick-off) will be the seventh time Benitez has come up against a team managed by former United boss Pardew since the Spaniard took his first job in the Barclays Premier League with Liverpool back in 2004.
The first time the two managers came up against each other came the season after Benitez had guided the Reds to a sensational Champions League final victory over AC Milan at the end of his first season in charge at Anfield. That year - the current Magpies boss' first in English football - Pardew was in the process of returning West Ham United to the top flight after their relegation in 2003.
The two managers faced each other for the first time on Saturday, 29th October 2005 at Anfield, and it was Liverpool who recorded a comfortable victory. Goals from Xabi Alonso and Boudewijn Zenden earned the hosts the three points in front of the Kop, and it was to be a similar story in the reverse fixture at Upton Park.
The following April, with both teams having booked their places in the upcoming FA Cup final, the fixture schedule offered Benitez and Pardew a sparring opportunity before they went head-to-head for the silverware at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
And again the pendulum swung the way of the Reds, with a Djibril Cisse double either side of a Nigel Reo-Coker strike earning the win. A scuffle involving Luis Garcia and Hayden Mullins resulted in both being dismissed, depriving them of the chance to play in what is perhaps Benitez's most memorable victory over Pardew.
The FA Cup final of 2006 is synonymous with Steven Gerrard, such is the Liverpool captain's influence in swinging the tie his side's way.
Pardew's Hammers had led thanks to a Jamie Carragher own goal and a Dean Ashton strike, but after Cisse had got Liverpool back into it, Gerrard struck his first to level the scores.
When Paul Konchesky's cross-shot restored West Ham's lead, it took a late long-range stunner from Gerrard to send the game into extra time.
In the end, Anton Ferdinand's missed penalty allowed Gerrard - and Benitez - to lift the famous cup in front of a crowd of over 71,000.
And Benitez ensured that Pardew would never get the better of his Liverpool side on Saturday, 26th August 2006, when his team recovered from Pepe Reina's own goal to come back and win 2-1 thanks to a spectacular Daniel Agger effort and Peter Crouch's winner.
Pardew left West Ham in December 2006 and took up the reins at struggling Charlton Athletic later that month, and the current Eagles boss earned a draw in his next clash with Benitez's Liverpool. The Addicks drew 2-2 at Anfield, having led twice through Matt Holland and Darren Bent, though Alonso and Kewell rescued a point for the Merseyside giants.
Pardew finally got one over Benitez during the latter's time as interim manager of Chelsea. Travelling to Tyneside to take on Pardew's Magpies on 2nd February 2013, a late debut double from Moussa Sissoko won it for Newcastle after Jonas Gutierrez, Frank Lampard and Juan Mata had traded goals to put Chelsea in front.
But both managers find themselves in somewhat different situations this weekend, with Benitez's United desperately searching for points to ensure Barclays Premier League survival and Pardew's Palace just about safe, but looking over their shoulders in 16th after slumping after a bright start to the campaign. History, at least, will be on Benitez's side come Saturday.
Rafa's record v Alan Pardew
Played: 6
Won: 4
Drawn: 1
Lost: 1